Houston Dynamo, Seattle Sounders draw 1-1 in Carolina Challenge Cup

Brad Davis scored his fourth goal of the preseason in a 1-1 draw against the Seattle Sounders at Blackbaud Stadium in Charleston, S.C., as part of the Carolina Challenge Cup.

Both teams trotted out strong starting lineups, and the result was a evenly matched battle for most of the night. Seattle started on the front foot for the first ten minutes, but a 14th minute goal from Davis turned the tide in the Dynamo’s favor.

Will Bruin snuck behind the Sounders defense on a long ball from Eric Brunner, but his centering pass across the face of goal was blocked. The rebound found Tony Cascio on the right side of the box, who slid the ball to Davis on the opposite side. The Dynamo captain took one touch to settle the pass and hit a left-footed shot with his second for the first goal of the night.

The Dynamo put the ball in the net again in the 26th minute, but had the goal called back. Boniek García set up a shot for Bruin that took a deflection and beat Stefan Frei, but the ball knocked off the inside of the post and sat on the goal line. Giles Barnes was the only Dynamo player in the area and slammed it in, but he was whistled offside from the initial shot.

The Sounders worked back into the match with a goal just before the halftime break. Lamar Neagle found space on the right wing and whipped in a cross to Obafemi Martins. Martins found space between the two Dynamo center backs and finished with an open header to the back post to equalize.

Each team made major changes for the second half, with the Dynamo switching all 11 players and the Sounders subbing all but goalkeeper Stefan Frei. Among the Seattle substitutes was former Dynamo forward and current Seattle trialist Cam Weaver, who headed a chance just wide of Tyler Deric’s post in the 54th minute.

The Dynamo were forced to stave off a couple of Seattle attempts late on in the match, but the defensive unit held strong to preserve the draw.

Houston is now 0-1-1 in the Carolina Challenge Cup, and will face hosts Charleston Battery in their preseason finale on Saturday night at 6:15 p.m. CT. The match will be streamed live from Charleston at HoustonDynamo.com/live.